Cost of War
by moor
Summary: MadaSaku. She would win at all costs.
1. Chapter 1

There was no other way around it.

Sakura, lead general of her kingdom and ruler of the southern realm, swallowed tightly to try and moisten her dry throat as she clutched the leather-bound grimoire.

"Any other way," pleaded Naruto from behind her.

She shook her head.

"Leave. No one pays this price but me," she commanded.

"But—"

"We're running out of time."

"We could reduce our losses if we—"

"The losses have been high enough. They've been too high for too long, and I won't let it go on. Get out, Naruto."

Still her half-brother remained behind her, unwilling to let her face the trial alone.

"You can't bring him back," he added softly, gently, more knowing than she wanted to give him credit for.

"This isn't about bringing back the lost. It's about preserving those lives still with us. No more sacrificing," she said firmly.

"Except for you," he murmured.

Sakura's chin dipped as she took a fortifying breath.

"You are to report to the Nara outpost. Tell him to spread the word: be ready by sundown," she commanded, lifting her eyes to the window high above the stone altar where the afternoon sun waned.

When Naruto still hesitated, she straightened her shoulders and shouted, "That was an order!"

His footsteps, far too quiet for his usual boisterous self, walked away reluctantly. She looked over her shoulder after the door shut behind him to ensure he'd really gone. She was both reassured and disheartened to see he'd done as she asked, for once.

With a wave of her hand the door locked her inside the private conjuring chamber.

The winds rose outside while she uttered the prayers for protection and purity before setting the warm grimoire down upon the silk-draped dais, its scent and whiteness glowing like lily of the valley in a night forest. With a practiced hand she drew out the mortar and pestle of fire-hardened, earthen clay and the bundles of bound roots from her pouch.

Soon the salt ringed her, her herbs anointed her, and her resolve strengthened her as she lay her right hand upon the ancient book whose pages beat with the power and life of her own pulse.

He'd warned her, during the last incantation, that this was not magic to be trifled with.

The price would be heavy, this time.

But she had run out of options.

He was the only one who could save them.

At least, she prayed he could.

 _No price is too heavy for them._

"Release!"

The energy in the room spiked as the cloying miasma seeped from the pages tearing loose wildly before her.

"Hello, my queen," he purred, his voice deep and haunting as he took his preferred shape around her, that of a tall, broad warrior.

She frowned at him.

He chuckled.

"Hn. This is the third calling," he said, drawing out the words with lustful greed.

"Your price," she demanded, widening her stance instinctively.

"Price is irrelevant now, isn't it?"

"Your pr—"

"What do you want? What do you… _need_?"

The ball was in his court regardless of what she asked for. They both knew it. He thrived on the power imbalance between them, now. His darker than midnight eyes shone with eagerness.

There was always the chance he would reject her request, of course. Especially considering the circumstances.

But she knew he wouldn't.

He'd never denied her anything.

Unfortunately.

Now was the time to be very careful.

Was she truly willing to do this?

The crown she'd fought so long and hard for?

 _Startlingly similar inky eyes stared back at her from a sweet, trusting face. Tiny fingers gripped hers as they tried to pull themselves up to stand._

 _They're worth any price._

"Lend me your army," she ordered, sealing away a part of her heart.

His eyes glittered as his lips parted in a mad grin.

"As my queen demands…"

# # #

 **TBC?**


	2. Chapter 2

It was a lucky shot she never saw coming.

Danzou's cracked lips broke into a cruel smile as his forces ambushed Queen Haruno as she and her minimal guard made their way to the pre-arranged parlay grounds. He watched her deceptively strong arms swing her battle ax, deflecting the decoy attack he'd sent from behind until her blond supporter, Uzumaki, cried out in rage a split second before the second impact hit her, sending her spiralling off her mount.

Then she was falling and Danzou's elites swarmed her party, outnumbering them in droves. Their resistance was futile.

"Seize them," he ordered his third cluster of soldiers, smug with pride.

# # #

Several hours later, the air had changed around them. No longer were they outside in the rocky, forested hills. Now they crossed a weed-ridden courtyard, vicious, half-starved dogs skulking from the corners and following behind them hungrily.

Sakura's feet bumped and scraped on the gravel path as two heavyset mercenaries dragged her from under her arms, uncaring as her boots scuffed and trailed behind her. She came to as she heard the heavy door's rusted hinges grinding loudly. No one would get through that entrance by stealth, which was probably exactly why Danzou left it unserviced.

Groggy, she turned to the side at a blond head just behind her, to her left. There was her faithful Naruto, brother of her heart. Bound and gagged, spitting fire with his eyes and struggling against the four soldiers who shoved him to the ground. Several of her other most trusted captains were arranged behind her, like a series of hunting trophies on display. Sakura's lips turned downward in a snarl in spite of her filthy gag.

The guards came to a stop and dropped her on the cold, slimy stone floor, a mosaic of greens from algae. The musty smell of moisture and rot hung in the air, and when Sakura looked up she took in the barred slit windows, set high above them. Too high to climb through without a ladder.

They were trapped.

Legs splayed widely as he watched his strongest, more tenacious opponent reduced to a common, abused slave.

"Thank you for joining us, your Highness," Danzou said as his guards kicked at the back of Sakura's calves, forcing her to her knees. Struggling and grunting she fell. Her hunter green eyes, full of undiluted venom, never left Danzou's smug face.

Of course, this set Uzumaki off again, but after a bit of a scuffle and repeated blows to his head, he was far less of an inconvenience.

"Surrounded by the enemy who is about to take over your lands and slaughter your people. A failed monarch with nothing to show for her pitiful rebellion. An embarrassment to her kingdom," rattled off the old man. His words were dusty, haphazard and rough, like the bandages wrapping his failing body.

Sakura glared at him hatefully.

It made him smile, his rotten yellow teeth like crooked posts in his foul mouth.

"Any famous last words?" he asked, descending from his ugly throne to loom over her, kunai in hand. He slit the gag before grabbing her throat tightly in his fist.

Sakura held his eyes a moment.

As Danzou tightened his grip, the tips of Sakura's roseate hair withered to black and grew wild down her back. She smirked at him.

"Long time no see… you traitorous coward," said the deep male voice from Sakura's throat.

Then her green eyes spun first midnight black, then crimson with trademark Uchiha pinwheels.

Dropping his façade, Madara chuckled, seizing the ax—transforming it into his gunbai—from the mercenary who'd claimed it as a war-trophy.

—and proceeded to unleash Hell within Danzou's fortress.

# # #

Meanwhile, from the cliff overlooking the village, Sakura stood tall as she peered out over the battlefield, calm and fierce as the wind whipped around her braided hair and leather mantle. In the distance thunder rumbled with the promise of the heavy storm that had been brewing for days.

Behind her, the last glow of sun fell below the cloudy horizon. Her generals stood waiting loyally behind her, their shadows lengthening until they dropped and disappeared off the face of the cliff below them, looming the ransacked village as a whole.

Feeling warmth, strong and steady at her back, Sakura inhaled deeply and scented _him_. Her promised weighed heavily in her heart, but she would not break. She accepted her fate and the outcome, whatever it may be.

She waited for him to ask something, anything, of her. Yet he did nothing to pressure or interrupt her. For once, he was obedient.

—until he disappeared.

So it began.

Raising her battle ax in her arm, she climbed onto the back of the massive raven Madara's lieutenant, Itachi, had leant her. The creature was docile to her touch, yet fiercely protective and intimidating. Its very presence bolstered her courage and she inhaled deeply. Then—

"CHARGE!" she bellowed, taking to the darkened skies in a swooping dive off the cliff.

From the ledges down the cliff face, Naruto, Neji, Ino and several other of Sakura's most trusted leaders commanded their squadrons from the caves camouflaged in the ancient stones.

The ensuing battle was bitter, relentless and brutal.

# # #

The last rumbles of thunder passed far in the distance as stars shone down on them when the last Root mercenary fell to Sakura's ax.

Chest heaving, her arms slick with the blood of her victims, she panted and automatically scanned her surroundings for further threats, only to find herself lost in a sea of enemy mercenaries.

Dead enemy mercenaries.

She tried to swallow to clear her throat, but bile rose thick and swift, and she turned to the side to vomit the hot mess onto an unfortunate victim, desecrating his body further. To her surprise, she watched the green mess bubble and slowly melt through the man's armour and flesh, eating through him like an alchemical weapon. Her horror mounted as the bile proved so caustic it burned through his bones.

Madara's magic, it seemed, rendered everything about her more dangerous. Whereas her magic had unconsciously manifested itself defensively before, to protect her, now it seemed to be imbued with a more malevolent taint.

 _What else had he changed in her?_

Shuddering from the retching and the new power still shimmering below her skin, she closed her eyes a moment.

Then she felt a gentle hand wiping at her mouth with a soft cloth.

"Your people lived," said Madara calmly, stroking her loosened hair back to dab at the corner of her mouth and chin. He retracted his hand after a moment when she looked up at him with hollow eyes.

"At what cost?" she murmured to herself aloud, looking around before finally accepting the consequences and glancing down again. There was very little left of the soldier she'd spit up on.

Madara continued looking at Sakura as she straightened and set her shoulders.

Of course.

The cost.

That's why he was there.

"It is time," he said.

Her heart, the last piece of her left untainted, cracked as she saw the fathomless depths of Madara's eyes slowly filling with hunger.

Lifting her chin one last time for her final battle, Sakura held out her hand in acceptance. "Show me," she said.

They disappeared from the battlefield. 

* * *

**END**


End file.
